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Calling all GS women!

If you are a woman or know a woman who wants to take her bike off pavement for the first time (or fairly new to this) we have a ride at the Rally for you!
ALL MAKE Dual Sport bikes welcome.

Ride will be led by Liz Allen, instructor from BMW Motorcycle Training Center in Spartenburg SC (with brief instruction and intro info prior to ride)
When: Friday 8am July 20th
Where: GS Giant tent at MOA rally
Who: Limited availability women only. All levels welcome
Ride geared to beginners
Sign up: Txt Tracy at 302.723.2354
or sign up at GS course if spaces still available.
The ride:
50 to 70 miles paved and gravel roads with plenty of bail outs. Do some do all! All roads are close to the rally.
See you there!

A Newbie 'Dirt Rider's' take - after the fact

A shout out and a big THANK YOU to Tracy, Janee (sp?), Liz and everybody else who helped put this together! I had never been off-road before, except for the unexpected gravel roads I might come upon unexpectedly (which is why 'gravel roads' are one of my avoidances on the GPS).

I got up early and stripped the cases and racks off my F650CS, just in case. Notice I said CS, not GS. I wasn't sure my little 'city bike' was up to the task. I wasn't sure I was, either.

While the instructor was explaining the field exercises we were to complete while standing on the pegs (an entirely new experience), I had a big knot in my stomach and huge doubts in my ability. He was very professional and his instructions were very clear. He took great care to explain how the things we'd be doing would effect the bike, then Liz demonstrated the exercise for us so we'd know what to expect. The first time or two through the course were a little shaky, but it got better and I calmed down. I started to think 'Hey! Maybe I CAN do this!' The braking exercise went smoothly, too, and after a short break, we headed off to the road portion.

A short ride into the country led us to some gravel roads to practice on. Some of it was flat and straight, some was uphill, some downhill, some curvy sections and a variety of dirt/gravel surfaces, stone chunks small and not so small. I admit, I was not the fastest in the group. In fact I was the last rider before the 'Sweeper', and Janee kept a good watch on me. We had been told to ride our own ride, so I did, and felt no pressure to try to keep up to the pack - thank you so much for that, too! I went at my own pace, and tried to get a feel for the road and for the controls; a whole different thing from a standing position. I stood up as much as possible, sat for short periods when my legs got too tired, mostly in the flatter sections, and stood again for the next challenge, hill or curve.

By the time we reached our half way point for a break before heading back, I was pretty tired. I don't know when my legs have had such a workout! But I was also really excited and over the moon happy! I had made it. I had conquered my fear of gravel! Even though I wasn't able to stand for the whole time, even sitting on the bike while riding on gravel used to have me white knuckled. I now know I can handle it, and handle it well. My ride back to the GS Giant Camp was MUCH more spirited than my ride out. I had a high all afternoon, so happy and proud of what I'd accomplished. One of my friends asked me if I'd do it again, and I said "In a heartbeat", without hesitation.

While a beginner GS ride might be small potatoes to a lot of you, to me it was HUGE. So, once again, my hearty and sincere thanks to all of the riders who put this ride together and took such good care of us. And a big thank you to the other ladies in the group for being so inclusive and non judgemental. You all made this a terrific experience for me!

Congrats to you for overcoming your fear and taking that first huge step! Believe me, I am not the best off-road rider but Jeanae, Dawn, and Tiffany, not to mention all the Guys, inspire me! I tested my limits this week after thinking that with all the experience and muscle to pick me up, shame on me if I didn't!

What a glowing review! I have to say publicly how sorry I am to have missed the ride and what a great job Jeanae did picking up the ball and running with it. The women's ride was a huge success mostly due to her efforts. (I was swamped with GSG competition and registration duties and barely got to meet many of the women riders.)

Your words and your experience is exactly what we were hoping for. Thanks for participating! We will surely do this again!

Thanks for the praise, I appreciate it, but that's not what I was after. I wanted to share my experience for 2 reasons; first as a thank you to the good people who put it all together. Second, I wanted to let other ladies who might be unsure about doing a session like this know that a total noob, unsure of herself and her machine managed to overcome her nervousness and have a blast doing it! I just thought it might help encourage participation next time it's offered.

While a beginner GS ride might be small potatoes to a lot of you, to me it was HUGE. So, once again, my hearty and sincere thanks to all of the riders who put this ride together and took such good care of us. And a big thank you to the other ladies in the group for being so inclusive and non judgemental. You all made this a terrific experience for me!

Great post... thanks, it was something we've wanted to do for a long time. Thanks to Jeanae, Tracy, Dawn and the BMW Performance Center pros Liz and Bill.

Clowry

Thank you. On the fly right now in CO. But wanted to let you know how much your words meant to all of us.
New riders was my target, I felt they had a different need then just a general women's ride and the comradery of women. Your comments let us know we hit the Mark! We are blessed to be a part of this whole experience.
You did GREAT! The smile on your face wrote the story. I hope you feel confident continuing you journey down the roads less travelled...literally! Thanks for sharing your day with us!